Billowing Flag In Blender 3D
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For this tutorial I will have the worded directions along with the exact
keystrokes it takes to get the step done. If you are fluent enough with
Blender you may not have to look at the keystrokes line. Each step within
the keystrokes line will be highlighted like this: Example. Arrows will
indicate that you should be following a menu path.
Start out by opening up a new page in Blender and if you have the default cube you should
delete it. After that we will want to add a plane as our flag from the top view.
-- 7, Add-->Mesh-->Plane
Since my flag will look like the U.S. flag I will make the dimensions of my flag 1:1.9. I suppose you
are wondering what I mean. The 1 in 1:1.9
is the Y proportion and the 1.9 is the X proportion.
So I will skew the plane on the Y axis by 1 and along the X axis by
1.9.
-- If you want to use your own country’s flag, which I assume you would, you can find the dimensions at http://flagspot.net/flags/xf-size.html. And instead of using the dimensions I used, you can use those instead.-- |
| -- S, Y, The First number.
-- S, X, The Second number. As shown in my image, you can see an example of what the numbers will be, the first one in blue, the second in red. |  |
Now that you have done that, I made my flag 4 units tall. That means since my first number (
the height) was 1, I will skew my flag by 4. Since your flag may be different you will want to take your
first number (the height) and make it somewhat close to 4. (For example, if your flag is 2 units high,
skew by 2.)
-- S, Number that would make your flag's height equal 4
Now we have our flag's shape. Subdivide your flag as many times as you like, the more you subdivide
the more detailed it will be in the end, but the slower your computer will run. I will ‘subdivide’ my
plane ‘5’ times, or ‘subdivide multi’ by 31.
-- W, Subdivide Multi, 31, Click OK
Now you want to have the whole flag selected and rotate 90 degrees on the X axis.
-- R, X, 90
Next we will want to make our flag a bit more flag like. Go into Object Mode, Hit F7, and then click the Physics Button. Now you will want to click on Soft Body.
-- Object Mode, F7, Click the Physics Button, Click Soft Body
A bunch of options should appear. You will want to change the settings as seen below.
Now it’s time to put in the wind. In Blender the wind needs to link up to something that is “creating the wind”. Since we don’t want to see a box just sitting there next to our flag you will want to add an empty to your scene. I will look like a tiny X,Y,Z axis. When you’ve done that move it along the X-axis by -8 and along the Y-axis by -4.
-- Add-->Empty, G, X, -8, G, Y, -4
With your empty still selected you will want to go to the Physics area and this time under Fields and Deflection there is a pull-down tab under the word Fields. In that tab you should select Wind. When the settings show up, change Strength to 25.00 and Fall-off to 2.000.
-- Select Wind in the pull-down tab, Change Strength to 25.00
As you can probably tell, the wind is currently shooting straight up. Rotate it around the X-axis by 90 degrees and around the Z-axis by about 50.
-- R, X, 90, R, Z, 50
If you hit Alt+A you will notice the wind working as your flag flies off into the distance. Let’s make the flag stay in place. Select the flag and go into Weight Paint Mode (This is in the pull-down tab with Object Mode). Hit F9. There should be a panel labeled ‘Paint’. The Paint tab is shown below.
Weight paint makes certain points that you paint “heavier”, making them stay in place. Red indicates very heavy and will not budge while blue will move easily. Here is how I weight painted my flag. I have mine painted at 1 on the corners (this is red), .85 along the edge between them (the orange).
Before hitting Alt-A again we need to go back into the Physics Buttons, into the Soft Body panel and right next to the Use Goal button there is a small square pull-out button. If you click it, it will say Group as a selection. Select it.
-- Go to the Physics Area, Pull-down the tab next to Use Goal and Select Group
Now you can hit Alt+A and see your flag move in the wind. It will take a couple seconds for your flag to straighten out and then it should start flowing back and forth.
If you find that you did not get the results that you desired the best way to remedy that is to first adjust the strength of your wind. If that does not work quite right I find that altering the weight paint along the edge can change it drastically. If all else fails I would try to move the wind around a bit.
That’s all for this tutorial, now you can add a material to your flag to make it look like your country's flag or you can get creative and make your own design.
If you have a suggestion for a new tutorial or questions about Blender 3D please go to the Forum
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